Her car was 'courtesy' towed to an illegal spot then ticketed by PPA. The city wants $300 in fines [View all]

[TheBlackAdder]

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The following is bullshit that happens all the time in Philly. You will park in a legal spot, pay the meter, and come out to find your car and the street completely cleared of cars, with orange notices on the light posts stating there is an emergency order to clear the street. They will tow your car to the shittiest sections of the city, where they drop it off on the street, and then you have to spend 20 minutes trying to find out where they towed your vehicle. Then you have to get there to pick it up. If you are lucky, nobody fucked with it, because people see these cars getting dumped and know the owner is nowhere to be found. Granted this person left for a few days, but there are a lot of parking places that do not have restrictions on free parking.

It began last September, when Sclarsky, a 29-year-old veterinarian, flew to Atlanta to watch the Eagles play the Falcons. She left her car in a legal spot on 15th Street between Kater and Bainbridge Streets. The Eagles lost. She flew home.

When Sclarsky went to retrieve her car, it was gone. It had been the beneficiary of a “courtesy tow,” a local euphemism for when the Philadelphia Police Department, the Parking Authority, or a towing company hired by the city is allowed to move a legally parked vehicle to another location to make room for a special event or construction.

Sometimes the city keeps a record of where it deposits the vehicles. Sometimes it does not. Sometimes the drop-off location is nearby. Sometimes it’s in a different neighborhood. Other cities, such as Chicago, post license plate numbers and new locations online. Philadelphia does not.

In Sclarsky’s case, her car had apparently been moved to make way for a jazz festival. When she couldn’t find her Elantra, she flagged down a police officer. He did some research and informed her that her car was at 15th and Washington Avenue.

“Not in my wildest dreams did I think it was parked illegally,” Sclarsky said.

Oh, but it was. In the middle of Washington Avenue. In the turning lane. With four tickets tucked under the wipers totaling more than $100.

Sclarsky figured that the city would dismiss them once she explained what had happened. That the city dumped her car there when she was actually more than 600 miles away in Atlanta.
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UPDATE: After this story ran Thursday, the city threw out the tickets, ending the 10-month ordeal. Rachel Sclarsky said Friday that when she called the number on the notice she’d received in the mail, a woman told her her balance was now $0. “Oh, I read about you yesterday. It was dismissed yesterday,” Schlarsky said the woman told her.

More at the jump:
https://www.inquirer.com/news/ppa-courtesy-tow-philadelphia-parking-authority-ticket-20200723.html

The people above were lucky that they had their story run to get justice, else, they'd be like the rest of us, eating it.

I used to work in Philly, but I would take the train into the city. I would see how the PPA operates. They walk a certain route, and if your car is a couple of minutes before expiring, and their route take 15 minutes, they'll write a violation anyway, even if you run out to your car and refill the meter. They say, "Sorry, the ticket is already being written. If you want to contest it you'll have to go to the court and contest it." The PPA people are incentivized to write as many tickets as possible. This means taking a day off of work, getting the runaround, and probably losing. Philly changed from coin meters to kiosks with printed receipts you place on your dashboard, but even if you save the receipts, it still means you have to go to traffic court to save a $25 or $35 ticket. Many people just eat the cost--and the city knows this.


Additional commentary:

I forgot that this happened to my sister a few times too, where her car was broomed to disheveled sections at a whim.

Also, there was a COPS-like TV show about the PPA. If you have ever watched it, it gave the impression that these were noble people who are just doing a tough job and getting harassed. While there are many violators, and conflicts run high--in reality almost anyone who lives in the city and the people who drive into it loathe this department, because of the shifty tricks the PPA officers pull to generate revenue for the city and for themselves.

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